poverty

HIGH MIDDLE AGES – 1054-1454

“Married to Lady Poverty, Francis strikes us as head over heels in love, like a young man enamored of a lovely girl. He liked nothing better than to spend whole nights in prayer. He loved Jesus Christ compassionately, lived in His world with glorious spontaneity, thought His thoughts after Him, obeyed Him with astonishing faithfulness. In this lifestyle, he found freedom, and refused personal ownership of houses, lands and wealth lest they put him in prison… Francis called others to follow Christ radically, too. In two years, he had a dozen disciples; in eleven years, 5000.”

Quoted from Donald Demaray, "Preface" to The Little Flowers of St. Francis. New York: Alba House, 1992, preface.

St Francis, son of a nobleman, left his home and gave his life to preaching the Gospel, (‘if necessary, use words’ he said), to community with the poor, and caring for lepers. His changed life led many to follow his example. This group ultimately became the Franciscan monastic order. The Franciscans, mirroring Francis’ example, became traveling missionaries concerned with social justice and the needs of the poor.

Many wonderful legends are told of Francis has told of him. He particularly loved nature and was reputed to talk with animals about loving God. He may even have tamed a local wolf. The Little Flowers of St. Francis, quoted above, retells these delightful stories about a remarkable lover of God. A movie was made of his life called Brother Sun, Sister Moon (Francis’ own words regarding his relationship with nature). It’s a 1960’s flower child version of his life that is a classic and a fun way to learn his life story. Look for this film at your local video store or library.

URL Franciscan websites:

To read more about St. Francis, click here.
To view the Franciscan order home page, click here.

“A small community grew up, which was given official status by the bishop of Toulouse (France) as a group of poor religious devoted to assisting the bishop in his work of preaching and teaching…Dominic had a profound personal love of extreme poverty, but his Order recognized that poverty was secondary to preaching… The essential point was that the Order should trust in God rather than earning its living, and it is this dependence on Providence that is the typical note of Dominican poverty, rather than rigorous austerity or total common possession.”

Quoted from Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey Wainwright, and Edward Yarnold, editors, The Study of Spirituality, (Oxford University Press), p. 296-97.

The Dominicans, also known as the Black Friars, were founded by Dominic Guzman, of Castile, Spain. Traveling to Denmark, he encountered a group of priests who had been branded heretics in a theological controversy. He preached to them and stayed on in France to teach them. Dominic's instruction and prayer helped convert them from their heresies. During this time, he set up several monastic houses devoted to study, teaching, preaching and prayer. He trained preachers who, under a vow of poverty, would became itinerant preachers. They rapidly became a powerful preaching missionary force across Europe and spread into the Americas. Dominic died in 1221 and was canonized by 1234.

URL Websites on Dominic

To read more about St. Dominic, click here.
To read more about Dominic's nine ways of prayer, click here.
The home page for the Dominicans

Ø Research the life of Francis or Dominic. Why was a life of poverty more important to them than the more comfortable lives they left?

Ø How did these two leaders attract so many followers? How many are now members of these orders?

Ø Research the trend of diminishing numbers entering monastic orders today. How might you explain this trend?

Ø Do a web search to learn about other Christian groups, not in monastic orders, who live lives of poverty.